Collector for money bags and other articles



Dec. 20, 1949 E. D. ZECHER- COLLECTOR FOR MONEY BAGS AND OTHER ARTICLESFiled. Oct. 24, 1946 INVENTOR HIWWIHII,

Em'lfli Zeclter HTTORNEY Patented Dec. 20, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE COLLECTOR FOR MONEY BAGS AND OTHER ARTICLES Application October24, 1946, Serial No. 705,471

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to portabl collectors for the collection of bagsof money and of other articles of value. Among the objects of theinvention is to provide a collector in the nature of a strong box whichcan be trundled over the floor of a department store and employed toprovide security for money collected from a number of cash registers,

Another object of the invention is to provide a strong box having anopening through which articles may be deposited to the interior of thestrong box, and a movable gate normally closing the opening andautomatically operable under the weight of an article to deposit thearticle into the interior of the strong box while at the same timerestricting access to the interior of the strong box by a personextending his arm through the opening and reaching articles that havebeen deposited. The relationship of the gate and the chute whichdelivers articles to the gate is such that the expanse of the opening tothe interior of the strong box is always restricted to prevent humaninterference with the contents of the strong box, whatever may be theposition of the gate within its limit of movement.

Other objects of the present invention will be hereinafter set forth inthe accompanying specification and claim and demonstrated by thedrawings which show by way of illustration a preferred embodiment of theprinciple of the invention and the best mode in which I havecontemplated applying that principle.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a strong box embodyingthe present invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the gate rocked from itsnormal position;

Fig. 4 is a section showing a detail of construction on line 4-4 of Fig.2.

The strong box illustrated in the drawings is in the form of arectangular casing l having rounded vertical edges. The strong box ispreferably made of sheet steel throughout. The casing is mounted on apair of rollers l l and a pair of casters I2 fastened to the bottom l3.The upper edge of the casing is finished with a combination bumper andhand rail 14. Finger slots l5 and I6 are provided for convenience of anattendant.

One of the side walls I! is provided with a door I8 having a lock I9.The exterior of this door is flush with the outside surface of wall llso as to avoid any projecting edges under which an instrument could beinserted for gaining access to the interior of the casing through theclosed opening 20. Opening 20 is provided for permit- 2 ting authorizedpersons to remove articles from the interior of the casing.

The horizontal projection of the upper portion of the casing is closedoff by a ledger compartment 2! flanked by a wall 22 at one side fromwhich a ledge 23 extends to wall 24 of the casing, and by a similar wallon the other side also having a ledge 25 extending to wall I! of thecasing. The ledger compartment has a vertical transverse wall 26opposite wall 2'! of the casing l0, and a bottom wall 28. The ledgercompartment is provided with separated strips 29 and 30 and a bar 3! forallocating the positions of record books within the compartment.

A chute 32 is attached at its upper edge to wall 25 of the ledgercompartment and also along its side edges to walls I! and 24 of thecasing ID. This chute is inclined to convey bags of money or othervaluables under the force of gravity and discharge them over its loweredge 33. A shelf 34 is attached at its end edges to walls I! and 24 ofthe casing and at its rear edge to wall 35 of the casing. The free edge36 of the shelf preferably overlaps the discharge edge 33 of the chute32 in a higher plane. The ledger compartment, chute and shelf extendacross a horizontal projection of the upper end of easing i 0.

A gate for receiving articles from chute 32 and for depositing themwithin the casing is located Opposite the chute and the opening betweenthe discharge edge of the chute and the free edge 36 of the shelf. Thisgate comprises a crescent-like wall 31 of sheet steel having a lowerapron portion 38 and an upper lip portion 39. The free edge of lipportion 39 is preferably provided with a finishing strip 40 which servesto limit the rotation of the gate in a clockwise direction (Fig. 2) andthereby establish its normal position. The gate has parallel sides 4|,one of which is shown in the drawings. Each side is attached to thecurved wall 31 and the gate is pivotally supported by trunnionsextending from adjacent walls: of the casing. One of these trunnions isshown in Fig. 4 as constituting a bearing screw 42. The gate is soconstituted as to normally assume the position illustrated in Fig. 2under the action of gravity. In this position it is so located withrespect to chute 32 as to receive articles from the chute. Articlesleaving the chute are received upon apron 38 and cause the gate torotate counterclockwise and automatically to discharge the article intothe strong box, as illustrated in Fig. 3. A plate 43 is provided toguide the articles descending thereon and to lodge them at a pointwithin the strong box remote from the gate.

The open face of the gate between apron 38 and lip 39 is normallypositioned to receive articles from chute 32. The opening to theinterior of the casing corresponds in elevational expanse toapproximately the distance between the free edge 36 of shelf 34 and thedischarge edge 33 of chute 32, but as the gate rocks under the weight ofan article, this opening is diminished by the changed position of lip 39and the gate effects such diminution of the open area as to restrictaccess to the interior of the strong box by anybody trying to reachthrough the opening for the purpose of withdrawing deposited articles.Any convenient arrangement may be provided for limiting the rockingmovement of the gate, but in the embodiment of the invention illustratedin the drawings the gate is so positioned as to contact wall 35 of thecasing in the manner illustrated in 3. In its position of maximumdisplacement or in any intermediate position, the gate restricts thepassage of a persons arm and prevents meddling with the contents of thestrong box.

What is claimed is:

A collector for money bags and the like comprising a mobile strong boxenclosing a compartment for receiving articles for safe-keeping, saidcompartment having side walls and an interrupted upper wall includingsuperior and inferior fixed partitions extending towards each other fromopposite side walls and terminating inwardly thereof in edges displacedone above the other and thereby providing a substantially verticalopening to the upper part of said compartment, the inferior fixedpartition including an inclined chute for conveying an article bygravity into said opening, a pivoted gate located below said superiorfixed partition and opposite said opening and balanced normally to closesaid opening, said gate being crescent-shaped and having a lower apronportion with its edge normally disposed proximate the discharge edge ofsaid chute and having an upper lip portion with its edge normallydisposed proximate said superior fixed partition, said gate beingconstructed and arranged to receive on its lower apron portion anarticle from said chute and automatically to tilt under the weight ofthe received article to deposit the same into said compartment as theupper lip portion thereof advances across said vertical opening, thelower portion of said compartment having an opening through whicharticles deposited therein may be withdrawn, and a lockable closure forsaid lastnamed opening. 7

EMIL D. ZECHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 89,474 Fitzgerald Apr. 27, 1869149,947 Moses Apr. 21, 1874

